Plenary Council 2020

Your Voice creates the Plenary Council 2020 Agenda!

Adelaide will host the opening session of the historic Plenary Council in October 2020 with a follow-up session in an eastern state in early 2021. Now is the time for Catholics like you to help shape the process by taking part in a Listening and Dialogue session.

A Plenary Council is the highest formal gathering of all local churches and is an opportunity for the bishops and other representatives of dioceses and eparchies to discern what God is asking of us in Australia at this time. A brochure describing the process of the Listening and Dialogue process and how to feed into the national picture is attached below. We encourage you to consider hosting a conversation with those in your local community and have your voice heard.

Your online submission will help to develop the agenda for the Plenary Council in 2020.

Adelaide's hosting Plenary Council in October 2020

Adelaide has been selected as the venue for the first of two historic national gatherings to consider the future of the Catholic Church in Australia.

Two members of the Adelaide Archdiocese have been appointed to a committee that will work closely with the Australian Catholic Bishops Commission to prepare for the 2020 Plenary Council. Sarah Moffatt (assistant director to chancellor Heather Carey) and John Lochowiak (manager of Aboriginal Services at Centacare Catholic Family Services) together with 12 others from around Australia have accepted an appointment to the Plenary Council Executive Committee.

16 Apr 2019

Plenary listening to 222,000 voices

The Southern Cross newspaper – April 2019

Plenary Council 2020 president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says he and his fellow bishops have been “amazed” by the engagement of people across Australia in the Council’s opening stage.

The Plenary Council’s Listening and Dialogue phase ended in March, concluding a period of almost 10 months for people to share their stories and consider the question ‘What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?’

15 Dec 2018

What is God asking of the Church?

The Southern Cross newspaper – December 2018

More than 21,000 voices have contributed to the first phase of the Catholic Church’s three-year Plenary Council process which will culminate in two large gatherings, the first to be held in Adelaide in October 2020.

Topics frequently raised include leadership and governance within the Church, the place and role of women, the importance of young people, the living tradition, liturgy and music, the priesthood and other vocations, inclusion and welcome, the sacramental life of the Church, ecology and creation, and social justice.

The Southern Cross asked South Australians of different ages and backgrounds for their thoughts.

01 Sep 2018

A true picture of Church

The Southern Cross newspaper – September 2018

Editorial – Jenny Brinkworth

At a time when many would say the Catholic Church is on the decline, it is interesting to note that the latest Census statistics show that the Catholic population in Australia has increased from 4.8 million to nearly 5.3 million over the past 10 years.

01 Aug 2018

Momentum building for Plenary Council

The Southern Cross newspaper – August 2018

Thousands of people from across Australia have taken time in the two months since the Plenary Council 2020 officially launched at Pentecost to consider the future of the Catholic Church. In May, the Listening and Dialogue phase of the Plenary Council began, with resources created to help people across the country participate in a prayerful conversation to consider the question: “What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?”

01 Jun 2018

Adelaide to host historic gathering

The Southern Cross newspaper – June 2018

Adelaide has been selected as the venue for the first of two historic national gatherings to consider the future of the Catholic Church in Australia. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference announced last month that the celebration of the first session of the Plenary Council would be held in Adelaide in October 2020.

...In a special message for the Catholic community in Australia, Pope Francis said that he hoped “through patient dialogue and faith-filled discernment, the conciliar journey will confirm the Catholics in Australia in a spirit of fraternal unity and missionary discipleship”...

01 May 2018

Adelaide begins journey to Plenary

The Southern Cross newspaper – May 2018

The Adelaide Archdiocese has started its journey towards the Plenary Council in 2020 with the first strategy meeting involving key stakeholders being held last month. A range of groups within the diocese were represented at the meeting, which resulted in a number of ideas being put forward regarding ways of engaging people within the Adelaide Church.

...To be launched at the Pentecost Vigil on May 19 and continuing until Easter 2019, this process will enable people within the Church to discern together and reflect on their own faith experience, life experience and experience of Church.

01 Nov 2017

Journey to Plenary Council begins

The Southern Cross newspaper – November 2017

Members of the Bishops Commission for the Plenary Council, the Executive Committee and the Facilitation Team met over two days, providing an opportunity to share stories and their hopes for the Plenary Council. They discussed the history of the decision to hold a Plenary Council, reaching back to the apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte in 2000, through the Year of Grace in 2012, the royal commission which began in 2013, the election of Pope Francis in the same year and the Synods on Marriage and the Family in 2014 and 2015.

01 Aug 2017

Planning for future of Church

The Southern Cross newspaper – August 2017

Two members of the Adelaide Archdiocese have been appointed to a committee that will work closely with the Australian Catholic Bishops Commission to prepare for the 2020 Plenary Council.

Sarah Moffatt and John Lochowiak (above), together with 12 others from around Australia, have accepted an appointment to the Plenary Council Executive Committee. Ms Moffatt is the assistant director to chancellor Heather Carey and Mr Lochowiak is the manager of Aboriginal Services at Centacare Catholic Family Services.